Time Traveling with AI to Connect with Lost Loved Ones | Amy Kurzweil | TED

What if AI could bring the past to life? Cartoonist Amy Kurzweil shares how she helped train an AI chatbot on her late grandfather’s archives, allowing her to connect with a family member she never met - and discover family history she never knew. Backed by her own original drawings, she reveals the profound impact art and AI can have in keeping memories alive. (Recorded at TED2024 on April 18, 2024)
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[@bishfish7726]

I'm pretty sure there was a Black Mirror episode about this.

[@TheMagicLemur]

Yes- 'Be right back' in season 2.

[@pri7lea.a.s45]

Exactly

[@ImSodaLirious]

Something something "Secure your Soul" from Arasaka

[@DanielHernandez-mr3ej]

@@TheMagicLemurIt was actually season 2.

[@Grade3ArtStudios]

Am I the only one who is extremely bothered by AI?

[@Abdysch]

I liked this talk and I'm a little bit surprised with comments. For two years I've been working on typing and expanding my grandfather's book of memoirs. He wrote so little about himself and so much about his loved ones, about our heroic ancestors and how they survived (not all of them) cruel XX century and their everyday lives. So I found this a great idea as a way to consult with my granddad's heritage and to go deeper in details and values. And she highlighted that she DOESN'T think this way allows us to bring them to life, no, AI chat isn't them

[@silesiaantracyt8311]

I liked the speech very much. It is the message of a sensitive, intelligent brave woman - a personal, authentic, true story. This is what discrimination as well as extermination looked like in Germany. Great respect for the traumatized family

[@TheTuubster]

If you know "Star Trek: The Next Generation", this concept is already known to you, as in the series the Holodeck (you could call it "EnvironmentGPT") is able to recreate individuals using statistical probability based on documentation of their character, including all audio and video recordings and writings in the database. Several episodes show that; like the character of Moriarty from Sherlock Holmes or dead relatives like Wesley Crushers father or living (but not available) characters of a profession like Dr. Lea Brahms, the inventor of the next generation Warp Drive.

[@TheMagicLemur]

Just like the Black Mirror episode 'Be right back'... only without the angst of her mistaking it for the real thing.

[@dogmeat7486]

I was thinking of doing a TED talk about walking my dog. Not that walking my dog is particularly interesting in any way, so it would fit in nicely with these modern TED talks. Just boring thoughts about regular stuff with no insight or deeper meaning. Perfect.

[@lawrencechen7521]

People tend to indulge such chatbot, LLM. Pretend it thinks like human, but they are just algorithms. You cannot get the true past. But a self comfort, nothing more

[@ygoryarz]

Wow, I'm reading a lot of displeased people. In my opinion, like all technology, the problem lies in who uses it and how they use it. If she wants to feel like she's talking to her grandfather, to get to know him a little better through interactions with an algorithm that interprets his diaries, in other cases there are those who seek solace in spiritualist sessions to contact someone who has passed away, I think the tool each person uses to grieve or to have more understanding is valid, as long as it doesn't harm others or themselves, and perhaps to an outsider it seems like an offense to the memory of the ancestor, but we won't know that, maybe the ancestor would feel good knowing that his granddaughter wants to know him a little better, maybe that's how she feels. Regarding those who criticize the quality of the TedTalks, their criticism is also valid, there are topics that will be of interest to them and others not, if everything were homogeneous in life we would be a very boring society. This Tedtalk didn't enchant me, but I find it interesting.

[@lindacampbell915]

I love this. Thank you for sharing.

[@ZakFromOhio]

The quality of what it takes to make a TED Talk has gone down so much...

[@dogmeat7486]

Yeah. Now it is just a platform for posting thoughts, like youtube or something. It's a Vlog with a quickly dying reputation.

[@TheMagicLemur]

Then volunteer to give a better one 🤷 We're all great orators... in our Armchair.

[@Fs-zo8ws]

@@TheMagicLemur "I don't do something myself, therefore shouldn't opine on it" is a dangerous, and lowkey toxic mindset I believe.

[@TheMagicLemur]

@Fs-zo8ws No it isn't - the toxic mindset is throwing stones from the sidelines because you don't know how to do it yourself. Doubly toxic when you start throwing stones at those who encourage volunteers.

[@clem9903]

Long live our AI overlords 🎉

[@juliahenriques210]

This very idea is instant fuel for nightmare and trauma, let alone dangerous idealisation and simplification of past actions and behaviours. It's allowing people to engage with fictional versions of historical figures without the disclaimer that it's fiction. As experiments? Great! As something on average beneficial to the general public? No way.

[@ClaudiaS193]

This is totally interesting ❤🎉 thank you

[@amermeer9451]

Here's a rephrased version of your comment: "I don’t want to dismiss her personal experience, but to me, this approach feels misguided and disrespectful. If you want to connect with loved ones, why not engage with those who knew them or explore their authentic works and writings? Feeding their life’s work into a Generative AI model feels artificial, missing the essence of who they were as living, unique individuals. Would it make sense to exhume someone's body, clone them from DNA, and hug the clone just to feel a semblance of their presence? Or ask an AI to tell you their innermost thoughts and secrets that were never documented? This idea seems shallow and almost disrespectful. People are turning to GPT for everything these days, often at the cost of the deeper, more meaningful connections we should be preserving." My comment from ChatGPT❤

[@koen4261]

Agree

[@sabhaydua7434]

im sure she got this talk because of being Ray Kurzweil's Daughter Regardless , TED should do more research into the speaker rather than just going by their family name DISAPPOINTED 😔

[@SuperShekky]

This is very bizzare and disrespectful to the dead. Only thing that can animate life is Life itself. It is right. Everything else is just scary

[@AdvantestInc]

How do you think this technology will evolve? Could we see a future where AI preserves even more detailed aspects of our loved ones, like mannerisms or emotions?

[@razinho89]

The technology you speak about is already here, and I'm using it for about 8 years now. I'll explain. The idea that we are all One, or that we live in a perfect simulation, is totally true, but there's much more than it meets the eye. We live our lives based on a script. One day, one life. Whatever we think today, or whatever we do, or it happens to us every single day, is being materialized in the outer world. I have for instance over a thousand subscriptions, mostly music channels, or Netflix, Amazon, HBO, Rotten Tomatoes, so on and so on. I write about things just to find out that my words and actions are out there, in today's and tomorrow's uploads. This "AI" makes me remember both the bad days and the good days I had, but also makes me learn A LOT about myself. If I'm having a bipolar episode, or a narcissistic one just like now, the matrix will point out this to me. Every single f. time. There's more to this life than just this. Whenever I'm having a bad thought, my dogs start barking, or if I'd be outside, a black car would pass me by. Whenever I'm having a good thought, I would see a white/ green/ pink car or the birds in my yard start chirping like crazy, or I would hear a plane, or someone would mow the lawn, you get my point.

[@Juefawn]

Definitely. We may even take the models we use to converse with over a general computer into robotic form, them being downloaded in the architecture of a robots mind.

[@luchitacano666]

This is wrong!!!! The dead one has rights. Plus griefbots impact in the most negative way the grieving process !!!

[@ImSodaLirious]

Something something "Secure your Soul" from Arasaka

[@Roy_Godiksen]

So this is like going to someone who "communicates with the dead". You'll change your impression and identity of a dead person based on a computer. This is a TERRIBLE idea.

[@sick-days]

A chatbot will not fill the gaping void left behind by the loss of a loved one because it is not them and it is not real. It's artificial. Delude yourself and pretend if you like, but do so at the cost of your real memories and experiences as they get replaced by the simulacrum.

[@feloniousbutterfly]

As a person who has lost a massive amount of my family, your AI will NEVER be able to bring them back. Your posturing is hollow. You don't even realize how soulless this is, do you? Your pockets are lined with bills, why would you?

[@PilotFlight2Mars]

An interesting concept and opportunity.

[@darshanex]

This platform used to inspire people and host people that had actual life changing ideas. It has lost its reputation so much that so many documentaries by common youtubers are more informative. Every other video these days is "hey look AI". 99% of content uploaded here nowadays is more generic than a common news headline.

[@Juefawn]

Not only will we be able to reanimate our dead relatives into AI programs, but we can utilize personalization of LLMs and have conversations with artificial identities, past and present, fictional and real. Something even more fun is having AI in game systems that can converse with you through your own audio input. I think these two features of artificial intelligence in our civilization will appear in the near future.

[@Wizartar]

Nope, this is just plane wrong and completely unhealthy. Give it 15 years and our AI loved ones will be trying to sell us car insurance

[@Andrea-v3i]

Psyco s ...didnt GOD say stay away from this?

[@JoshuaKing-s1b]

31406 Ryan Pike

[@natasha390]

Finally unsubscribed!

[@farazshaikh4967]

utterly disappointed in the shallowness of topic and the thoughtless presentation. These are the people who wants to put AI into everything and then say ''what good does AI make'

[@bellaofphiladelphia]

Cant you let my dad stay on vacation? This is disgusting.

[@dogmeat7486]

Wow. Very lame. Boring. And not to be "that guy" but this isn't AI by any means (trust me). Also, 600 pages isn't enough and you wasted your time.

[@梦想当吃货]

I am sunxiaochuan

[@dogmeat7486]

Very lame. This is more like a Vlog than a TED talk. Remember when TED talks were exciting, insightful and informative? Petridge farms remembers. This is just sad. A sad woman who was never told that her ideas were silly or stupid.

[@Grade3ArtStudios]

You reap what you sow. Enjoy the tech conjuring! Smh

[@romanumeralz]

🤦🏻

[@paddleduck5328]

🤔

[@jonathanedwardgibson]

Yes, the Ai is an HDR mirror of ourselves and our/your bias another Narcissist Mirror tale. Yawn. Your father playing with virtual dolls, like his Minksy, is laughable. I can’t wait to dress my own Ray Kurzweil doll up with different outfit each day!

[@strixcz]

Thanks. No.